Niger Delta Youths Plan To Invade Abuja-Amnesty Office

Office of the President on Amnesty has raised alarm over a new plot by some Niger Delta Youths to attack Abuja.

In a statement signed by the office’s Head of Media and Communications, Mr Daniel Alabrah on Sunday said the office “wishes to alert on a plot by a group of youths from some of the Niger Delta states to again invade Abuja, the federal capital city, to protest their non-inclusion in the Federal Government Amnesty Programme for former agitators in the region.

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“We are aware that some of these disgruntled youths are already in Abuja claiming that they were invited to a meeting by the Amnesty Office in order to document their inclusion in the programme.

Sunday, Alabrah, also added that the office did not extend such invitation to any group of youths from the Niger Delta.

“We have discovered that their plan is to storm the National Assembly to demand inclusion in the amnesty programme even after the window granted by Mr President had since closed,” the statement added.

The Amnesty Office noted that the agitation for inclusion in the programme is a familiar pattern encouraged by some elements in the Niger Delta each time they want another phase of the programme.

According to Alabrah; “The Amnesty Office insists that no amount of protest or agitation will force an extension beyond the Third Phase, which is indeed the last of such inclusion in the programme.

“We insist that there will be no further inclusion beyond the 30,000 beneficiaries already captured in the programme and condemn any move that encourages unengaged youths in the region to demand inclusion through ill-advised agitations and protests.

“The Amnesty Office aligns itself with the outcome of the Third Phase verification exercise conducted by the Air Vice Marshall James Gbum-led committee set up by the Chief of Defence Staff.

“The committee did a thorough job and we are satisfied with the outcome of the verification exercise, which resulted in the inclusion of an additional 3,642 youths in the programme, following a Presidential directive. Payment of the monthly stipends of these youths has since commenced having been properly verified by the committee,” the statement reads.

“The Amnesty Office urges security agencies to continue to be alive to their responsibilities and take appropriate actions to stop any individual or group that foments trouble in Abuja or in the Niger Delta under the guise of demanding inclusion in the amnesty programme”, the statement said.

Adding further the statement said; “We also urge states in the Niger Delta to engage youths in the region through educational, skill acquisition and empowerment schemes as the amnesty programme for the former agitators is not an alternative government in the region.